Egypt shuts Gaza border as militants break out of jail

GAZA Jan 30 (Reuters) - Egypt shut its crossing with the
Gaza Strip on Sunday as countrywide protests spread to the
border area, and five Palestinian militants fled a Cairo prison
back to the Islamist-ruled territory, officials said.

At least 50 Gazan travellers hoping to exit through the
enclave's only regularly-open border crossing were turned away
by Hamas policemen who said the terminal may remain closed for
several days.

The measure came a day after armed clashes were reported in
the border town of Rafah, on the Egyptian side of the border to
where protests against President Hosni Mubarak spread at the
weekend. There were no reports of any casualties in Rafah.

Eight Gaza militants were among inmates who fled Cairo's Abu
Zaabal prison as it was raided on Saturday by Egyptians amid
spreading chaos in the Egyptian capital. Five of them managed to
get back into Gaza.

Hassan Wshah of the Army of Islam, a faction that shares an
ideology of global Jihad with al Qaeda, made his way through a
smuggling tunnel to his home at Bureij refugee camp in Gaza.

Wshah, 27, had been serving a 10-year prison term after
being convicted of attempting to cross into Israel via Egyptian
territory in 2007 to carry out an attack in the Jewish state.

"I have come out of the prison of darkness and injustice,"
the bearded Wshah said as he was greeted by family members.

Wshah said he saw at least four prisoners shot dead by
Egyptian security forces as hundreds fled when inmates rioted at
the Cairo jail on Saturday.
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